“Prayer is the key that unlocks the resources of heaven, so they can be unleashed on planet earth”

Priscilla Shirer (Passion Conference 2018)

If you are just joining us, don’t miss out on the first two post in this series! Click here, to learn what spiritual disciplines are, why they are important, and why practicing them can help transform your life, while growing closer to God.

Over the past two weeks we’ve been working to develop good, practical, lifetime habits that ensure we bring the discipline of scripture reading, memorizing, and reflecting into our daily lives. Click here to see the tips and tricks we learned to help you do the same!

Next on our list of 8 Spiritual Disciplines??

Prayer!

Prayer changes everything, it is so powerful. I believe very deeply in this discipline, and out of the eight we are reviewing this may be my favorite. Without prayer in our lives, there can be no victory. Prayer has the power to push back darkness and bring light into our lives. It is our direct link to God Himself, and He is always listening my darling friend.

God is only a prayer away.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Luke 11:9

When you pray you open the door for a close relationship with God, inviting all the fullness of Jesus into your life, and all the power that comes with Him. Simply by praying you invite the presence of God to come near to you. When trials and struggles occur payer can humble us, empower us, refresh us, focus us, renew us, and revive us. By praying to God we surrender our lives to Him and give Him the situations in which we are not equipped to handle on our own. Why waste time worrying or being filled with anxiety, when you can simply cast your cares and move on knowing that you’ve given the problem to God, and He is figuring out a solution for you.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

1 Peter 5:7

He will listen to the prayers of the destitute. He will not reject their pleas.

Psalms 139:17

God desires to hear our voices, and He wants to hear from us ALL THE TIME. In the past I only prayed in times of need, or when I thought the situation was “bad enough” to warrant a prayer. I’ve matured in my faith over the past few years and I’ve realized that it’s okay to pray to God over every situation no matter how big or small. He is always present, always with me, and He desires to hear my voice. That revelation was life changing for me! My faith has strengthened so much since I’ve really leaned in and focused on making it a point to check in with God often.

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO YOU ARE.

If you understand that prayer is important and have a desire to practice it, reviewing this discipline will help strengthen your prayers and revive your prayer life. You may be %100 new to prayer, and have no idea if you are doing it right, that’s okay too. You are in the right spot, and I’m excited you are here.

No matter who you are, what your walk of faith looks like, or what your past has been like, God DESIRES to hear from you! He loves you, and when you begin to seek Him through prayer, you’ll start to see life transformations happen.

PRAYER IS FOR EVERYONE.

There is no true form of prayer, you can not do it wrong!

However, I love the guidelines Jesus lays out for us in the Gospels. It is helpful to follow His guidance so we do not lose our focus or train of thought during our time of prayer. It also helps us pray with confidence knowing that we are following exactly the guidelines taught to the disciples.

THEN HE was praying in a certain place; and when He stopped, one of His disciples said to Him, Lord, teach us to pray, [just] as John taught his disciples.

And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, You kingdom come. Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us daily our bread [food for the morrow].

And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended us or done us wrong]. And bring us not into temptation but rescue us from evil.

Luke 11:1-4 (Amplified Version)

• He tells us who to pray to: Our Heavenly Father
• He tells us to be thankful and give praise: Think of things in your life that you are thankful for. Even on our worst days we still always have something to be thankful for. Thank Him for the good things He has already done and the prayers He has already answered. Our Father loves to hear us praise and worship Him, so make sure you let Him know how much you adore Him and honor Him.
• He tells us to ask Him for what we need: Don’t hold back. Our Father says to come boldly before Him. We are to ask for what we need and want with great faith and confidence that He will answer and move on our behalf’s. This is your moment, you have the key to unlock abundant blessings into EVERY area of your life. Give all your problems, struggles, and issues to Him. Humble yourself before Him and ask Him to lead and guide you through your day. ask Him to align your paths with His. Invite Him into your life, and let Him fully work within it to give you the life He wants you to have. I often have to remind myself that His plans will always be better than mine. I’ve learned to ask for what I need/want, but also to let Him know that more than anything I want Him to align my needs and wants with what He has planned for me. Surrender is a very important part of prayer, and key to leading a God first life.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 4:16

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3: 5-6

• He tells us to practice forgiveness. If there is anyone that you are struggling to get along with in your life, this is the time to forgive them. Our Father forgives us everyday for our sins. Big and small. By praying with a clear heart, power can be brought to our prayers and blessings released. We can not pray with anger in our hearts or when holding a grudge against someone else, and expect God to fully respond to our prayers. God says we are to pray for our enemies (Matthew 5:44). THIS IS NOT EASY, I know. I’ve struggled with resentment, anger, and bitterness towards someone who was once incredibly important to me. But God has shown me I can forgive. I can pray for her. I can release all the poison I was holding onto by feeling so much negativity towards her. Jesus clearly states that we MUST forgive. To truly have a successful prayer life, obedience is necessary. If you are finding it hard to forgive, ask God to help you. He will. This is also the time to ask God for forgiveness. We all have bad habits, areas of ugliness, and ultimately sin in our lives. Confess your errors and ask for forgiveness. Clear your mind and heart. If you are unsure if there is sin in your life, this is a great time to ask God to search your heart and mind, and show you what He wants you to change.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

James 5:16

• He tells us to ask for protection: And after you’ve asked for forgiveness, ask God to protect you from future temptations, so you can break away from these bad habits and sins. He will protect us from the enemies attacks. We only have to ask. I not only pray protection over myself, but my daughters and husband too. Everyday. Because I love them.
• Wrap it up:  Okay we’ve praised our awesome Father for His amazing grace and unfailing love. We’ve thanked Him for the blessings He has already provided us with. We’ve boldly asked Him for provision in our lives, forgave, and been forgiven, and we feel protected against the enemy. Wrap it up with In Jesus Name, Amen, because we are presenting to our Father everything that Jesus is. At the name of Jesus, every head will bow, every knee will bend… there is power in the name of Jesus.

Your prayer maybe 3 minutes, 7 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes… it doesn’t matter. The most important part is that you just prayed with focus and intention. You welcomed God into your day, you reached out to Him and connected, and He drew near to you. Now have faith and expect good things to happen.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24

Simple sincere faith filled prayers are effective and life changing.

Do I keep to the above guidelines for prayer all the time? Nope.

In times when I can feel my patience slipping away and my anxiety threatening to overwhelm me it’s as simple as Jesus, help me. He already knows my struggles, He’s already present in the situation. But sometimes just saying His name brings me peace, comfort, and self-control. Sometimes just saying His name reminds me that I am the daughter of the one true King, and I’m to act like it. Even when everything around me has gone wrong and everyone else has forgotten who they are.

Sometimes it’s as simple as a thank you in the middle of a special moment, when I look around and realize just how truly blessed I am. These moments hit me randomly throughout the day. I think you know what I’m talking about. It’s the moments when my daughter smiles at me and says “I love you mommy” or when my husband wraps his arms around me. I thank Him. When dinner is on the table and it’s not burnt or under cooked… I thank Him. When I’ve taken care of more patients than humanly possible in one day… and I did it gracefully, filled with patience, and integrity. I thank Him.

Come on, are you with me? It’s the moments when the bills are paid, and there is still some left over. In the moments when you weren’t sure how you were going to handle it ALL, but some how you did. And you just know it was Him, and you are thankful. The little moments when God shows Himself to you, and you have an encounter with His love and His grace.

Just a thank you sounds so simple, but in doing so 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 is being lived out.

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

The amazing thing about prayer is that it’s really the simplest discipline to follow, and it has unbelievable power. If you combine this discipline with scripture reading, memorizing, and reflecting you have a dynamite duo that can truly transform your life. Pray the scriptures you are reading directly over yourself, asking God to manifest them into your life. I started doing this recently, some of them I share under A Bit of Bible & A Bit of Prayer, click here to check them out, you can start praying scriptures over your own life right now!

Praying God’s word over your life can truly be life changing, because it often leads to inner transformation, and as we start to transform the Fruit of the Spirit starts to be evident in our lives. As we pray God’s word over our lives the Holy Spirit becomes stronger within us, and as a result we are filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This is so important! Because whatever we are filled with, is what we pour out into others. As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and A CHRISTIAN – I want to make sure that these are the attributes people see in me and that I pour into others!

When should we pray??

ALL THE TIME! We can pray anywhere at anytime and God hears us. First thing in the morning, in the car on the way to work, at work, in the super market, in the kitchen over hot soapy dish water, in the laundry room over a pile of laundry, at the ball field while waiting on your kids to finish practice, and in all the moments I mentioned above. ALL THE TIME, EVERYWHERE. Short simple prayers or more detailed prayers following the guidelines Jesus provided, it doesn’t matter. God just says to pray constantly! Pray in great faith! And have hope! He is moving in our lives. Yes my darling friend, YOUR LIFE. MY LIFE. AND THE PEOPLE WE PRAY FOR.

Start a prayer journal!

This does not have to be anything fancy, or if you are into fancy go for it. The idea is to write out your prayers in the format Jesus laid out for the disciples. The cool thing about this is going back through your prayers and seeing how God worked in your life. How did He answer your prayers and how are you growing in your faith? I loved this idea, and started doing it on and off a few years ago. I defiantly want to become more intentional in this area. Just from flipping over the few entries I have over the past year or so, I’m amazed at how God has provided for my family, and exactly where He is leading my life. It’s like building a book of your own personal testimonies, each page filled with how God loves you, how He is always with you, and how He provides for you. It’s truly an awesome thing to see.

Get started praying focused and intentional prayers TODAY! Prayers filled with faith and confidence that will lead to many blessings being released in your life. You will NOT regret taking a step forward, starting to transform your life, while growing closer and closer to God

The relationship developed with God through prayer is priceless, it is a true gift. Don’t rob yourself of the most important relationship of your life.

 

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As always your thoughts and comments are welcome!! Connecting is so important in forming Godly relationships!